The Fate of a Messenger
by FinalHeavenXIII
Summary: Reno centric, I'm about 11 chapters in and a real plot has yet to unfold. Therefore, this fic is [Temporarily Discontinued]. To those who have thusfar enjoyed it, thank you so much for the support- I'll definitely use it to help build my momentum back up.
1. Chapter 1

A/N:  
  
Hello! Please review! It makes me happy to know that people actually read my stuff. If you have anything mean to say, please say it in a way that it is CONSTRUCTIVE criticism. Like most people, I don't like it when people say "your work sucks" and if you insist on being so mean, *teardrop* email me under the subject "fanfic" pleeze. Actually, I'd like it if you e-mailed me anyway. I like meeting new people. ^_^  
  
Special Thanks to:  
  
Unigirl: For editing this fic for me (And being my bestis bestis friend)  
  
Tifa Gainsborough: For one of my first reviews and suggesting that I edit more  
  
InterfaceLeader: For my first review that had ablsolutly nothing to say about errors (I'm not saying Tifa Gainsborough's mean, I'm just saying that InterfaceLeader tolerated my awful grammar, and Tifa helped correct it :) )   
  
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It must have been around seven 'o clock at night with rain pouring down in a stifling silver curtain.  
  
'Great,' thought a young man, 'rain.' He was the single figure on a tall hill, nothing more than a small black silhouette upon the gray-black canvas of stormy clouds. What was he doing out there? He wasn't especially fond of rain, though he tolerated it for the sake of his mission.  
  
'Today sucks.' he thought bitterly, as he smoothed a hand over his soaked, red locks. Raindrops dripped down off of his sunglasses onto his face and into his bright aqua eyes. The man he was supposed to meet was late, and he did not tolerate tardiness well.  
  
He shivered. 'I'm soaked to the bone, freezing cold, and the moron I'm supposed to meet is late. What else could go wrong?'  
  
As if to answer his question, lightning struck a tree on a hill a few yards away. Thunder grumbled and shook the very air itself.  
  
'Why am I doing this? Why did I ever even take up this job?'  
  
He remembered quite vividly his meeting with the president of Shinra, Rufus.  
  
"I want you to do a job for me" Rufus had said. " A man will be dropping off a package to this address at six 'o clock. I want you to pick it up."  
  
The young man hadn't had any objections at the time. The job seemed easy enough and it was a bright clear day with not a cloud in the sky, the sun directly above the city giving off warm rays of light. But as the day wore on, the weather changed. Clouds began to blow in from the East and high winds were picking up. Around three 'o clock it was pouring rain. But it got worse. Fog rolled in, and the entire area was enveloped in clouds and mist. Not a hint of the beautiful morning earlier that day remained.  
  
'I must be crazy. The guy was supposed to be here an hour ago! And it's pouring rain!'  
  
Fifteen minutes later, as the man began to leave, a dark gnarled shape materialized out of the fog and came hobbling up the hill. The red-haired man tensed his hand already at the handle of his gun. He squinted through the mist, trying to make out whether the thing was human or not. Could it possibly be the man he was waiting for?  
  
The figure continued to limp up the hill. Aquamarine eyes fixed on the figure, the red-head waited. Soon the figure came into full view, and the young man sighed in relief. It was the person he was hoping for, and it also meant that he could go home after delivering the package to Rufus.  
  
"You Reno?" the old man growled.  
  
"Yeah. I'm here for the package."  
  
The old man looked him over. His eyes matched the rumbling clouds; dark, enigmatic, and cold.  
  
"Humph. They get younger and younger these days." the old man groaned and put down the package delicately. "Well I guess it's all for the better, this package bein' so damn heavy and all." He cracked his back and laughed. Even his voice resembled the storm; loud and booming like thunder. His laughter had no humor or feeling in it, and it made Reno shiver.  
  
"Aha.. Well anyway, I'd better get going..." Reno said as he picked up the large parcel. And began to walk down the hill.  
  
"Not so fast!"  
  
Reno stopped, knowing instinctively that whatever the old man was about to say wasn't going to brighten his day.  
  
"I highly suggest that you don't open that box, boy." the man growled. " And have a nice evening." he laughed his humorless laugh once again and walked down the hill.  
  
Reno shuddered. 'If I never meet that guy again, I'll die a happy man.'he thought as he began his long trek back to his car.  
  
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A/N:  
  
R&R!!!!!!!!!!!!!  
  
Didja like it? Didja like it??? I hope so. Pleeze let me know whether you did or didn't, kay?  
  
I know I haven't revealed much about the plot so far, but I promise by Friday I should have about two more chapters up.  
  
P.S. This isn't going to be a Yuffie+Reno thing, okay? You'll seeeeeeeee... 


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Haha! I made the chapters longer. That better TifaG?  
  
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Cloud Strife yawned and stretched as he was awoken by his irritatingly loud alarm clock. It was seven a.m. and time to train. It was only a few weeks after the Meteor incident, but Cloud's new policy was to always be ready. He hadn't forgotten how he had felt when Aeris was killed. He remembered the anger, the pain. He remembered how helpless he had felt, he thought, no, he *knew* that it must have been his fault somehow.  
  
As he dressed and picked up his old and faithful Buster Sword, he heard a knock at his door.   
  
It was Tifa, always bringing him in a little breakfast.  
  
"You need it! To go to bed so late and wake up so early, it's totally stupid to go without *any* food!" she would always say and always seem worried, but Cloud could see beyond the innocent look. Not only did she do it for his own good, she knew how much it annoyed him.  
  
But, being who he was, he would just sigh and shake his head and accept the small meal. Though he trained because of Aeris, he trained for Tifa. He didn't want to lose her, not after Aeris. She was all he had left, all that he cared about.  
  
Cloud took the food and nodded his head in thanks as he left. He greeted Barret and Marlene quietly, and walked out of the bar. Cloud jumped on his Daytona bike rode off to the training gym. He always thought as he rode. Was it really his fault that Aeris died? What if it wasn't? And what of Tifa? Why was he training anyway? Tifa could probably whip his ass at the martial arts. Is this all a waste of time?  
  
But his thoughts were lost on the wind as he rode off. So caught up in his own troubles, he did not notice a small shape peeking out of an alley and watch him fly by.   
  
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"Well, well. Look who decided to grace us with his presence." said Elena of the Turks sarcastically.  
  
A very hungover Reno walked stiffly into the office. Despite his aching muscles, he managed a deep and exaggerated bow.  
  
"Why Elena, you flatter me. We all know that it is you that we wait for. Your face alone is enough to push the most frightening dreams from our minds."   
  
Elena was enraged. "WHAT?! Why you, you...damn you!" she shouted.  
  
"What's that, Elena?" Reno cocked an ear towards her. "You're charmed by my wits, intelligence and beauty?"   
  
"Yeah, I'll show you charmed..." she muttered under her breath. If she let him get to her so early in the morning, who knows how the rest of the day would go? No, wait. She knew how the rest of the day would go. Reno would continue to get on her nerves with his annoying mock innocence, and neither would get any work done. It's more of a routine than anything.  
  
"That's enough, you two." rumbled a deep voice. Rude was probably the only thing that kept them from tearing each other apart.   
  
Reno grinned cheekily and walked over to his desk. He would find another chance later. It's not that he wanted to hurt Elena's feelings, it was just so easy to bug her, and the result was always a treat. He cleared the keyboard of his computer off; it had a tenacity to collect junk after a few hours, and typed in his password. He predicted a long and boring day, as it always was, except, of course, his small spats with Elena.  
  
After a few hours, his muscles stopped aching and he was already plotting how to get another hilarious reaction out of Elena. As he began to edit a few files on the computer (just minutes after a good bout with Elena), the loudspeaker boomed overhead.  
  
"Would Reno of the Turks come to President Rufus's office, please. I repeat; would Reno of the Turks come to President Rufus's office, please."  
  
'Great, now what?' he thought. 'It better not be something like that package thing. If it is, I refuse. I am not standing out on a hill in a thunder storm just to meet some freaky guy with a box. I'd rather glue my head to the wall.' But even as he thought that, he knew that if he wanted to keep his job, he would have to do it.  
  
With a sigh, he got up and walked towards the door.  
  
"Leaving us so soon?" asked a sarcastic Elena. "Too bad, I was looking forward to watching kill your keyboard, again. Or maybe that's what Rufus wants to talk about?"  
  
"Shut up!" snapped an irritated Reno. He remembered very well yesterday's incident. In his anger for not being able to hit the right key, he smashed his keyboard. A few minutes later, he was called in by Rufus about the price of the new keyboard coming out of his paycheck. It was right after he had told him about the "mission". It was also the only way Elena could get on his nerves.  
  
He slammed the door shut and began walking down the hall.   
  
'What could Rufus want now?' he wondered. 'I did the stupid mission well enough yesterday, didn't I?'  
  
As he thought of all the ways he could of messed up, he didn't realize that he was already in the elevator on his way to the president's office. He also didn't notice the leggy woman in the elevator with him, but of course it wasn't long before he did.  
  
"he-ey." he said as he inched closer. But to his dismay, the elevator door opened for a level just below President Rufus's. The woman hurried out quickly, glad to be away from the well-known womanizer Reno. Oh, well. He would just hunt her down until he found someone else more, err, interesting.  
  
On the level of Rufus's office, the secretary informed him that the president was busy for the moment. Of course, that didn't bother Reno.  
  
"Hey, no problem, babe. I happen to have a lot of time..."  
  
But just then, over the small desk speaker Rufus's voice was heard,"Shirley, you may let Reno enter."  
  
'Damn. Today's just not my day.' thought Reno. 'And to top that off, I probably have to wait until it rains again and then catch pneumonia as I watch for a flying pig.'  
  
He walked into Rufus's office.  
  
"You wanted to see me?" he asked innocently.  
  
"Reno, you know very well that you don't have to act so naive. You have a new mission."  
  
'Great, it's probably about that stupid box.' he thought bitterly.  
  
"You remember that parcel from yesterday?"  
  
'How could I forget? I only had to wait an hour to get struck by lightning.'   
  
"Yes sir."  
  
"Well I want you to drop it off-"  
  
Reno couldn't hold back a groan. Rufus chose to ignore that, but Reno did not escape a dirty look and Rufus rose his voice slightly, "-at an island just north of Wutai. It has a forest and a lake on it, along with a volcano, it should not be hard to miss. The person you will be meeting won't be as late as the old man was. I want you to stay on the island and guard it until the first of March; more will be revealed from the person you will be meeting with. He will be your partner for the next few weeks. You are to leave tomorrow at noon. Take chocobo number 5012361. That is all, you are dismissed."   
  
'Dammit! Dammitdammitdammitdammitdammitdammit damn it!!!!!!' he thought. 'I hate jobs like these! I hate 'em I hate 'em I hate 'em I HATE THEM!' instead he said, "Yes sir." and walked calmly out of the room, ready to punch anyone that came near.  
  
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A/N:  
  
I'll try and get the next chapter out soon, kay? 


	3. Chapter 3

A/N:  
  
Just to annoy the hell out of some people, I do not and never will own Final Fantasy. I do in fact, own two characters in this story...ah, you'll figure it out. And I want to continue thanking InterfaceLeader and TifaG for reviews and Unigirl for...ah...moral support! Yeah, that's it, moral support! (Even though she doesn't even do that ^_^)  
  
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Tifa Lockhart thought quietly with her elbow on the bar counter top. She wondered when Cloud would be back. It was about the fifteenth time that he had come back VERY late from the training center. It was already a day after he had left. She often wondered what he was doing during these times. Who was he with? And if he WAS with anybody, why? Ever since Meteor, he hadn't really said anything. He would nod his head in thanks or greeting, but would never say hello. She wondered if he loved her. She was positive that he knew of her feelings, but she had no idea of his.  
  
She sighed and got up slowly, as if it hurt to move.  
  
"Yo, Tif, you okay?" asked Barret gruffly. He had just finished helping fix up a few problems that Meteor had caused, and was tromping into the bar.  
  
Just those words seemed to trigger something. Tifa suddenly blurted out,"Where do you think Cloud's gone? Is he okay? Why hasn't he come back yet? I NEED TO KNOW!!!!!!" she sat down again slowly, her face bright red. "Sorry..." she mumbled. Barret just smiled.  
  
"Tha's bin all caught up in yo head fo' a while, hah? Don't worry. Spike prob'y jus' thinkin', ya know? We all gotta do it sometime. You seem to have bin doin' that a lot nowadays."   
  
Tifa put her head on her arms. "I HATE not knowing things. I just want to know if he...if he really...nevermind." She stood calmly and went into the storage room to get some beer out. Barret just shook his head and walked out of the bar to get some air. He really thought that Tifa needed a vacation, or at least some sort of response from Cloud other than just a nod or a shake. He had several things he wanted to say to his spikey-headed comrad anyway.  
  
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Cloud himself was still training. He never felt the ache in his body as he pushed each muscle over its limits. He never noticed the crowd of gaping people that stood around him and watch him completely destroy punching bag after punching bag, a new one being replaced carefully to avoid his sill moving fists. He felt nothing, no emotion at all. All he felt was anger.  
  
He remembered Sephiroth. He remembered Aeris, smiling to her death. He remembered Jenova, the cause of Sephiroth's insanity. He remembered the blood that he cleaned off of his gleaming sword, as he slowly walked away from its dead owner. All he had now was Tifa. And it was she that he would continue to fight for.  
  
But a small part of his subconcious mind seemed to be struggling against his training. Why is he doing this? He was fit enough! And what he really owed Tifa was affection and attention, not protection! And what about all of his friends? His comrads-in-arms? If he truly wanted to protect any of them, he should tell them now, not avoid them as he trained for hours. Or was it days? He had forgotten.  
  
The part of Cloud that was making his body ache from training was slowly pushing those thoughts away. He would not tell any of them until he was ready.  
  
But as days wore on, he began to truly wonder if any of them actually meant anything to him. Had they done anything? Have they tried to talk to him? No! He was not training for *them*, he was training for power! He would become the next Sephiroth! Cold and ruthless! The ultimate warrior!  
  
Still, the small subconciousness reminded him of Tifa. It reminded him of his friends now, and that there was nothing he could do for his torn and shattered past, but his future will be the same if he continued like this. But he did not care. He continued on punching and kicking, mutilating the punching bag.  
  
"Uh...um, sir?" said a meek voice, quickly bringing him back to his senses. "Sir, that's our last bag. And um, well, the total damage is four hundred fifty thousand gil...Butweunderstandifyoudontwanttopaydonthurtme!" the small teenager put his hands in front of his face to provide as much protection as they could.  
  
Cloud shook his head as if coming out of a trance. "Oh, uh...no, I'll pay. Um, here." He payed the kid and quickly left the gym, amazed at what he had done.  
  
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Tifa cried for joy when Cloud came back.  
  
"Cloud! Where were you? Are you okay? Do you need anything? Oh, your muscles are so knotted! Here, let me get you something for them!" she was trying to go twenty places at once, her skin the only thing keeping her from doing so.  
  
"Whoa! Tif, chill. Spike here's fine! You go get yoself some well deserved rest, ya know?" Barret boomed.  
  
"But! I gotta help Cloud! He's gotta be tired and hungry and hurting and...and.."  
  
Cloud was suddenly painfully aware of his aching body. He walked slowly to a bar stool. His stomach also reminded him of his hunger, but was too tired to eat or speak. 'Tifa knows me too well.' he thought. He wanted to say several things at once, but his jaw had been clenched so tightly as he trained he found he could not move it. 'So, this is what I get for being a jackass.' and he fell asleep right there on the spot. Once again failing to see the small figure that had followed him home.  
  
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It was officially the next day when Reno got up to go to work. He somehow managed to pack during an enormous hangover, but he failed to remember the chocobo's number.  
  
"Damn..." he said pathetically as he walked taking small, and very stiff, steps to his car. He'd just have to pay Rufus, and Rufus's hot secretary, another visit.  
  
It was about nine thirty by the time Reno got to his office and dropped off his luggage by his cluttered desk and sat. He was waiting for his day to start by Elena's weak insults. but none came. He glanced over at Elena, seeing her typing like mad.  
  
"Oh? Working hard, are we? Who'da thought you had that kind of...oh, what's that word?...*motivation* in you?"   
  
"Shut up, Reno! I'm busy!" Elena's eyes glued to her screen. Reno could have sworn he saw some hair stick up from her head in stress.   
  
Reno gave Rude the "what's-up-with-her?" look. "Rufus suddenly gave her a lot of paperwork. She wants to show him that she has potential. The best part is, he wants all of that-" he nodded to the largest pile of paper Reno had ever seen,"-by Friday. And in case you didn't know already, it's Tuesday."   
  
Reno, being who he was, sauntered over to Elena and look at what she was typing. "Ooh-hoo...what have we got here? Updating profiles? Not taking out bad guys? No adrenaline-pumping action-packed mission?"  
  
"Shut the hell up, Reno! I'm stressed enough already, I don't need you butting into my work!"  
  
"Why, Elena. You offend me. And I thought we had a strong relationship going?"  
  
"SHUT UP!" she suddenly stood up, banging her fists onto the table in anger. "IF YOU FOR ONE, @#$%&*! SECOND, COULD JUST SHUT THE HELL UP MAYBE I WOULDN'T BE SO PISSED OFF AT YOU!" her face was bright red, her palms practically bleeding from her fingernails that were being pushed into her flesh. She was on the brink of tears, shuddering from anger. Reno took one step back.  
  
"Hey, I'm sorry. I didn't know-"  
  
"OF COURSE YOU DIDN'T KNOW! YOU NEVER KNOW! IT'S NEVER YOUR FAULT!" she shouted accusingly, then quickly ran crying to the washroom in the back of the office.  
  
"Whoa..." Reno didn't speak again until noon.   
  
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Reno looked up at the clock. It read 12:30.  
  
'Time to go.'  
  
"Well, my adoring fans, I must leave you now, but I'll be back for autographs on the first." he blew them a kiss, picked up his bag, and left the office, glad to be away from Elena.  
  
He quickly ran up to Rufus's office and got the number of his chocobo (it took a lot more than he had expected it to) and ran to the stables. He harnessed up his gold chocobo, which the hostler had fondly dubbed GoldenTail, and ran off to the small island with the mysterious package.  
  
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It had to be two hours of land travel and four on the sea, not to mention several stops for rest for the chocobo, who had been running so far so fast that its sides were heaving. But finally, Reno got to the island. It was large, about two leagues in diameter, with a huge volcano in the center. He waited near the large lake that Rufus had previously mentioned, and waited.  
  
It was only about fifteen minutes until he heard a sound swift feet running towards him. He kept a hand on his gun as the noise became louder. Soon something broke through the forest heading quickly towards the lake. It stopped, showing itself to be a man, about as tall as Reno's nose and rippling muscles. He had curly brown har, cobalt blue eyes and a short sinewy neck. He wore loose army print pants and a black tank top with worn-down boots and claws on his gloves. All in all, Reno didn't find him in the least bit intimidating, as he knew the clothing was implying.   
  
"Are you Reno?" he said, his voice surprisingly small and wavering.  
  
"Yeah. You are?"  
  
"Roger Clammings." he seemed to straighten up a little. "I'm sure you've heard of the Clammings? War heroes from a while back?"  
  
Reno put a hand on his cheek in mock surprise. "The Clammings? You don't say. Never heard of 'em. Anyway, I've got the box."  
  
Roger widened his eyes. "You mean, they sent *you* to help a war hero like *me*, as if I needed any, with item 6025926?"  
  
Reno imitated him, widening his aqua eyes. "Yeah, the sent *me* to help *you*. Rufus told me you couldn't handle the job yourself."  
  
Roger clenched his clawed fists in anger. "Why you! Shut up! I'll show you the true strength of a Clammings!"  
  
"Not that much of a war hero's name, huh? Maybe you should change it to G.I. Joe."  
  
With that, Roger charged. Reno instinctively duck and brought his fist up and under. Roger doubled up in pain. After that, Reno's subconcious took over. While Roger was still recoiling, he straightened and brought his knee up to meet Roger's stomach and his hand to meet his back, catching him in a scissor-like attack. Reno backed off, letting Roger fall over. He came up, slashing the air wildly with his taloned gloves. Each throw was blocked by a hand that came in contact with Roger's wrists, making him stop attacking briefly before another set of wild punches came at him again.   
  
Reno continued to block each punch, as he waited for an opening. It wasn't hard to find. He ducked two of the wild blows and elbowed Roger's left flank just below the ribs. Winded, Roger drew back, and then Reno made his move. He got behind him and chopped down on the back of his opponent's neck, knocking him out.   
  
The fight being over, Reno dragged Roger over to the cover of the forest. He would have killed him right then and there, but then he wouldn't have known where go or what to do with item 6025...whatever. And of course, it started raining.  
  
'Oh, my favorite. I just *love* rain. I just hope that Elena's having as bad of a day as I am.'  
  
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A/N:  
  
Hardy har har harr! I did it by Friday! Yay! More coming once my writer's block gone! P.S. Reno's the best!!! ^_^ 


	4. Chapter 4

A/N:   
  
About the volcano part, I revised chapter 1 so that the island had a volcano on it, so, just FYI. Okay, with that said, enjoy!  
  
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Elena of the Turks was so stressed, she thought she would scream. It was now Wednesday, and more paperwork was pouring in.   
  
"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?! ARE THEY TRYING TO KILL US OR SOMETHING?!" she slammed her fist on the desk. Rude could have sworn that he heard the wood crack.  
  
"Elena, that's life. You have to kind of live with it." Rude replied calmly, his eyes still focused on the computer screen.   
  
"Oh yeah?! Well, maybe I don't like the way life works!" she spat.   
  
"Yeah, I'm sure time negotiates." Rude rolled his eyes. "Besides, you know that you'll never catch up. Just do the work you have in front of your face and take more without complaint." He looked up at Elena.  
  
Elena fidgited and suddenly became very interested in the desk. She was slightly redder than Reno's hair. Suddenly she realized how silly she had been. For yelling at Reno, for her previous actions...  
  
'Jeez, he doesn't have to be so blunt about it...' she thought bitterly. 'Makes me feel so much worse than it should have. I'd rather have Re-...no wait, it was better that Rude told me. Reno would just think up some smartass excuse and make me feel like an idiot.'  
  
She sighed and returned to her work. After a few minutes of furious typing, a flashing green envelope in the bottom left corner of the screen told her that she had new mail. Curious, she clicked on it. A message appeared from Reno.   
  
"Hey Rude! Reno sent us something." Rude looked up and walked over to Elena's desk. He read over her shoulder:  
  
'Hello my devoted followers and worshippers!   
  
I just whipped this guy's ass and now it's raining. This entire box business is a waste of time. I don't even know why the hell I'm here. It's getting really annoying, carrying around this twenty-pound box all over the freakin' world. Elena, are you still phycho?-' Elena blushed-'cuz if you are, I think that I would rather try out my luck with the rain.  
  
Anyway, things suck over here and I just felt like sharing that with you. Till then, I'll be seeing ya if I don't drown in this DAMNED RAIN!!!!!  
  
your knight in shining armor,  
Reno'  
  
'That guy will never change.' thought Rude. 'I'll be damned if he does...'  
  
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"Cloud! Are you well enough to be up? You need more rest! You need-" Tifa was cut off quickly by a loud resounding "HE'S FINE!" from everyone in the room.  
  
As for Cloud himself, he was troubled. Of course he was well and healthy and, obviously, in shape, but he had a troubling sleep. The dream was one of the oddest he had every known.  
  
He was in a forest, no, above a forest, looking down at a square concrete building. Suddenly, he was falling into the foliage, and hit the ground hard. As he regained his balance and the feeling in his numbed legs, he found that he had no control over his body. He was running, sprinting down a rough, beat down road. He flew past numerous trees, jumped over roots, and ducked low branches. Then he entered a clearing, and came to a complete halt.  
  
He saw a woman jumping a wire fence and into the the small courtyard of the familiar concrete building. Raven tresses fluttering as the wind toyed with it, she spun around quickly. Her bright, piercing amber eyes stared straight into his, and she spoke.  
  
The language was harsh and yet soothing. Cloud felt and heard power in the speech, and it seemed to be calling to him. Instinctivly, he would have jumped the fence in hopes of finding an answer to the strange words, but something told him to wait. The woman seemed to be more of telling him something than calling him.  
  
Suddenly, she stopped speaking. She smiled, as if realizing that he had not understood, and brought out a bright talisman. To Cloud, it looked like some symbol of power; it was made in the shape of a sun, that gleamed like a small golden star. A crescent moon took up half of the pendant and seemed to be made of moonstone. Its silver trim drew rough spirals and curls. The sun side was framed in veins of garnet, the light making it appear to be pulsing. And in the center of the talisman where the moon and sun met, a black gem, like an egg, was placed with a curled silver dragon within, as if waiting to be released.   
  
The mysterious woman turned it over, showing the intricate patterns of the cosmos etched in bronze. In the center was an angel wing inside of a circle. The woman's eyes widened, and she began to chant. After every verse, it seemed to make more and more sense. The final result was:  
  
Moon to stone and skin to fire  
Burn to ash and collapse with time  
Ice with wings in crystal spire  
And earth turns cold as wind burns rhyme  
  
Cloud knew that if he told the others now, Tifa would order him to sleep more and rant on about how no one listened to her. The dream didn't make sense anyway. He decided to wait, and try to find out the meaning himself.   
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
The black shape ran. Its job was done. The message had been passed on to the Golden One. It had to tell her. It ran to the shore and jumped into the water. Like a fish, it swam under water with speed so great it left destruction in its wake. Fish darted this way and that in confusion, but before they could even figure out what had happened, the shape was gone.   
  
Within minutes the thing had reached a small island. It jumped onto dry land and sprinted into the forest. Near a weeping willow, a figure stood. The black creature hobbled over to it and spoke in a raspy, low voice. The other responded with a nod, and turned away. The small messenger let out a silent scream, and vanished. The one remaining jumped into the tree without a sound. If it felt compassion for the latter, it didn't show it.   
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Roger Clammings awoke with a start. That last thing he remembered was some smartass guy coming up with item no. 6025926, saying he was sent to help him guard it. Them he remembered. Ooh! GI Joe indeed! Slowly, everything else filtered into his mind. He remembered the fight, and his embarassing loss...The man didn't even look as if the fight were challenging. What was his name again? Leno? Or was it Freno? Something like that.  
  
"So you're awake?" a red-haired man asked. That was him! The guy who beat him up! He'd show him!   
  
Salvaging his pride, Roger replied, "Yes, I am. And if you don't mind, would you hand me my gloves?" he saw them haphazardly being tossed aside as he awoke. "I feel that it is your obligation to return them, as you seemed to have thrown them."  
  
"Would you like fries with that?" Reno muttered as he retrieved the gloves. He quickly scanned an expert eye over them. Just as he had thought, merely for show, not for fighting. Even the claws were blunt.   
  
"Thank you!" Roger said stiffly as he snatched the gloves out of Reno's hand. "And I'd appreciate it if you fought fair in the future!"   
  
Reno was dumbfounded. This idiot fought so pathetically, and yet he still seems to be able to find a way to act as if it was Reno's fault! "WHAT?! Whaddaya mean 'fight fair in the future?!' I was fighting fair, you moron! You just suck at hand-to-hand!"  
  
"Why, I'd never! If you hadn't charged me and hit me on my back, I would have won!"  
  
"What the hell do you mean?! You rushed me! Or have I damamged your sensitive ego?"  
  
"That's it!" but before Roger could charge, Reno restrained him.   
  
"I am not up for another one of your moronic so-called fights! Just take me to the damn facility, and we can get this damn job started, and *after* this worthless mission, we can fight this damn fight!"  
  
With that said, Reno let go of Roger and shoved him forward. "Now take me to the facility."  
  
"Hmph. Well alright then. But on the first, I expect you to fight fairly." and with that, Roger walked away deeper into the forest with his nose upturned. As for Reno, he stalked after him quickly with his fists clenched so tightly his knuckles were pure white.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Cloud! Why didn't you tell me before?!" Tifa screeched after the telling of Cloud's dream. "Are you alright? Is this caused from stress? What does that woman mean 'burn to ash'? Tell me please!!!"  
  
"Well Tifa, I would if I could, but that's why I told you guys!" against his better judgement, Cloud had told the others in hopes of finding answers, but once again his sub-concious was right. He was lucky though, Nanaki was there, and he seemed to be the only one who understood it. He was sitting in the corner of the bar with his chin on one paw, the look on his wolfish face pensive.  
  
Suddenly, he looked up. "Cloud, while you were up in the air, what did you see?"   
  
'Nanaki acts as though he's been doing this for years.' out loud he said, " I told you. I saw a concrete facility in the center of a forest."  
  
"Yes, but did you see anything else? Like mountains or hills?"  
  
"No...wait! I saw a big lake on the...east part of the island."  
  
"Did you see other islands?"  
  
Cid spoke up. "For God's sake, Red! Yer not a @%#$*^% phyciatrist! Yer tryin' to figure out what the ^&*%$^%$& dream means!"  
  
"I need to inquire of the details to understand the dream."  
  
"Yah! But-"  
  
"Ah, shuttup Cid! Red knows about this crap! He comes from Cosmo Canyon! Ya know, with the stars and shit." Barret growled.  
  
"Yes, Cid. You shouldn't interrupt people. We've got more important problems to deal with than your mouth." Vincent said quietly.  
  
"Please! Let me finish!" Nanaki barked. "And don't call me 'Red'! Alright Cloud, continue."  
  
"Um, what was the question?"  
  
"You see? All of this fuss is making Cloud tired! He needs rest! Let him go-"  
  
"He'll be fine, Tifa! The question was did you see any other islands?" said Nanaki.  
  
"Umm...no. But I did see a volcano!"  
  
Nanaki made the expression of mild surprise. "Really? Well the only island with a volcano on it that I know of is Dai ShiSai. It means 'Land of Leviathan' in Wutainese. It's just north of Wutai."  
  
Everyone was silent. Finally, Tifa spoke up. "So, we should go there, huh?"  
  
"Yup."  
  
"It would seem best."  
  
"Great. Dat's jus' great..."  
  
"I'm not going to no *&%T*^* Island of the Big Lizard!"  
  
"You are going, Cid. We need the Highwind. And Leviathan is not a big lizard, he's a sea serpent."  
  
"I want to find out what's waiting for us there." Cloud said. Then he groaned. "Uh oh. It's just north of Wutai, right?"  
  
"Yes." replied Nanaki. "Why?"  
  
"I just have a feeling that somehow, Yuffie's going to find out where we're going, and then, well...you can guess."   
  
"I HEARD THAT!!!" an irritated Yuffie stormed into the room. "And to think I came all this way just to say 'hi' and find you guys talkin' smack about me!"  
  
"I hate it when I'm right..." muttered Cloud.  
  
" I heared THAT too!"  
  
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A/N:  
  
Whew! That chapter took a while, but I've been devoting my weekends to it just to get it posted quicker! Show some respect, peoples! *starts ranting on about how wonderful weekends are* Oh yeah. And two more things: Reno's the best!!!^_^ And I HATE (HATEHATEHATEHATEHATEHATEHATEHATEHATEHATE!!!!!!!!!!) BORG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Okay, with that said, pleeze review! It makes me feel better. ^_^ 


	5. Chapter 5

A/N:  
  
Yeah! Borg is gone! Borg is gone! Hurrah! I think so, anyway. Whatever. I'll put up with his crap anyway. It's kinda funny, I guess his life can't be that interesting, now can it? Whatever. Anyhow, sorry it took so long to get this out. It was combination of school work, being sick, a jacked computer, and writer's block. So, here's the fic that you guys have been so patiently waiting for. Oh yeah, and I know the "Are we there yet?" thing's been done before. Bear with me here, alright?  
  
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Reno and Roger had been walking deeper and deeper into the forest for two hours. Reno was tired, hungry, thirsty, and feeling extremely triumphant as everything he said seemed to annoy his companion. It also helped that everything he said had been the same thing for the last half hour.   
  
"Are we there yet?"  
  
"No." said Roger through clenched teeth.  
  
"Oh...Are we there yet?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Are we there yet?"  
  
"NO."  
  
"...Are we there *yet*?"  
  
"No. No, no, and *NO*!" screamed Roger. "No! Alright?! No! and we won't be there for another hour!"  
  
"Oh." said Reno. He sounded intimidated and meek, but if Roger had glanced back at him, he would have been furious at the huge cheeky grin on Reno's face.  
  
"...Are we there yet?"  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"I can't believe it! You were planning to go to Wutai without me?" Yuffie said with mock surprise. "Oh! I just can't accept the fact that you forgot me! No. You must have thought you'd pick me up. Yes that must be it."  
  
"For the last time, Yuffie, we're not going to Wutai. We're going to Dai ShiSai." said Tifa in exasperation.  
  
Yuffie's eyes widened in horror. "Dai ShiSai?" she asked shakily.  
  
"Yes!" everyone shouted.  
  
"We've been trying to tell you that for the last five minutes!"   
  
"Yes. You should have been listening."  
  
"Why the #@$* did you just ^&$%&*@ ignore us for the last $%#%&%# five $%#%^$# minutes?!"  
  
"Yo lil foo!"  
  
"Will you all just be quiet?" asked Cloud. "Yes, we are going to Dai ShiSai. Why?"  
  
Yuffie took a step backward. "Um...well...uh...it's...erm...toooo...dangerous! Yeah, that's it, dangerous! So, I geuss you're not going now, Right?"  
  
Tifa gave her a sarcastic look. "No, we're not. Thank you for enlightening us, and saving us from potential danger. Come on! We defeated Sephiroth! We saved the world! Why would not go to an island?"  
  
Yuffie wracked her brain.  
  
'Hmm...well, if these guys still wanna go, they're taking me with them. I might still be able to keep the secret.'  
  
Yuffie put on a stubborn face. "Fine then. But you're takin' me with you!" She turned a heel and stalked out of the bar. "I'll be back! And you'd better not leave without me!" she shouted over her shoulder.   
  
"Well, it's not as if we've got much of a choice." Cloud said with one of his trademark shrugs. "She has a way of popping up anywhere, and she'll just be more of a pain if she finds us."  
  
There was silence. Nobody in the room had anything to say. Only Nanaki seemed to be thinking of speaking. His tail swished side to side violently, as if troubled.   
  
"Cloud. Yuffie is normally one to keep at something until she gets her way, right?" he finally said.  
  
"Well, yeah. We were with her for a while. You should know that."  
  
"That's not the point. Why was she so agreeable about us going as long as we take her along?" Nanaki's eyes burned into Cloud's.   
  
"Then, she must have some sort of plan or something...?" Cloud asked slowly.  
  
"Exactly. We need to watch her." Nanaki stood up and trotted towards the door. He stopped and looked back. "I'm going to go to Cosmo Canyon and do some research on Dai ShiSai. I want to know what Yuffie meant by 'dangerous'." He jumped through the doorway and galloped off towards the gate of Midgar.  
  
Vincent was the next person to leave. He pushed himself off of the wall he was leaning against and walked out of the bar without a word. Cid was next, muttering about Tifa's bar not having the right liquor. Barret groaned and shifted his weight from foot to foot. Soon Tifa spoke.  
  
"What do you think Yuffie's planning?" she asked Cloud.  
  
"..."  
  
Tifa's gaze moved from Cloud to Barret. Neither seemed to know what to say.   
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Finally Roger and Reno reached the facility. Reno was hoping for something like a missle base. Something large and flashy, maybe with a helicopter or two. His hopes were immediatly shot down after coming to a clearing about an hour later. He found a small concrete box with metal mesh fencing crowned in barbed wire and a sattelite disk. The door to the building was a dull silver and had a the most complicated looking lock mechanism he had ever seen. There was one machine-gun mounted hummer. The black eyes of camera lenses stood out against the gray surface of the facility.  
  
"Wow. Just like home." He muttered as Roger opened the padlocked gate.  
  
"Welcome to the facility. You will be living here for the next month with me. We will be-"  
  
"Oh, shut up." Reno snapped irritably. "You can tell me the details over dinner." he stalked through the gate towards the concrete box of a building. Roger quickly followed.   
  
"We must hurry inside. Dragons of an unknown species inhabit this island." Roger said huffily. The last hummer was torn to pieces by one of them last month. But the overly generous Rufus gladly gave us another."  
  
"You know, I am truly relishing this conversation, but do you think you could open the damn door?!" Reno shouted. He aquinted against the sun as he looked up. A small black figure in the sky made him very nervous.  
  
In a series of different combinations, Roger punched in the code to open the first lock. The air-sealed lock hissed open to reveal a slot to slide in a keycard and two small lights. Roger then patted his vest pockets for the card.  
  
"That's funny...I seemed to have misplaced the keycard..."  
  
"Yeah, well find it! There's something coming." Reno readied his gun as the black figure flew closer and closer at a great speed.   
  
"Ah! There's the little thing." Roger pulled out a plain white card with a black stripe down the length of its middle. He quickly slid it through the slot. One of the lights flashed red and let out a tiny beeping noise. "Access denied?" said Roger two himself, his eyebrows knitted tightly together. "Hmm...oh, *that's* why! I was using the wrong key! Silly me."  
  
"Dammit, Roger! Hurry up!" snapped Reno. He could now make out two glowing blue eyes burning with a lust to kill. Huge translucent wings beat in a steady rythem as the ruby dragon flew closer, picking up speed. Suddenly, It flew up in a completely vertical course, then stopped and spread its wings, the sun directly behind it. It quickly snapped its wings to its body and dove towards them, screaming like a demon as its spines pressed closer to its back to allow more speed. Reno could just catch a glimpse of gleaming teeth as the sun glinted off of them.  
  
Now Roger was aware of their new problem. He gasped as the monster flew towards them, and searched his pant pockets. Finally he found a white keycard that read "Facility Key" and ran it through the slot. The green light flashed on with a single *beep!* and the metal air-tight door hissed as it raised upward. Roger and Reno leaped through the door. Reno sprinted to a small power switch and pulled it down. The door flew down and emitted a sucking noise as the locks closed. A loud, blood-chilling shriek was heard and then a resounding *clang!* like stone hitting metal. Another screech, and then the swift beat of wings, then all was silent. It took the birds another minute or so to continue singing.  
  
Reno's breath slowed and his heart slowly retained its normal pulse. He then straightened up and ran a hand over his hair. After a quick sigh of relief, he asked, "So...when's dinner?"  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
A/N:  
  
I'm sorry! Gomen! (that *is* how you say it?) This was REALLY late...sorry again. What did you think? I did this all in a night and...oh, crap! I still haven't done my homework! Gotta go! Bye for now! *runs away quickly* 


	6. Chapter 6

A/N:  
  
Hey, peoples! Hope you liked the last chapter. Oh yeah, I've been wanting to say this a while: PLEASE PLEASE PLEEEEEEZE GET UNIGIRL TO WRITE SOMETHING!!! E-MAIL HER! I go over to her house every Thursday, and every Thursday when I ask her about it she says, "It's not ready yet! I still have to fix something!" or, "I think I'm gonna change a few things first..." you get the idea. Sad but true. Anywho, I am always available for e-mails, and it's fun to meet people, so contact me if you like. I do not and never will own FF7, but if I did, I would fix the graphics of the people and make Reno a playable character. ^_^ (Oh yeah, and the homework was easy, so I should have just stayed and reminded you that Reno's the best!!! ^_^)   
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Yuffie Kisargi was ambling down the streets of Midgar. She wanted to shop before it was time to leave. The young ninja walked into an item shop and bought several phoenix downs and five mega-potions. Then she sold her shuriken for some gil and bought a very nice oritsuru. After buying about ten grenades, she checked her watch. It was six 'o clock. She still had about half an hour to go.  
  
Sighing, Yuffie walked into a clothing store, hoping to ease her queasiness. Just thinking of being back on that tin can of an airship made her nauseous. Though the thought of setting foot on Dai ShiSai made her feel even worse.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
After the quick brush with danger, Reno had thought that he had enough adventure for one day. Roger quickly proved him wrong.  
  
To sit at a roughly carved wooden table with Roger listening to him ramble on and on about some rules made Reno want to face ten of those dragons at a time.   
  
'At least the food is good.' he thought, inwardly sighing. 'But this guy's about to make me barf it up.'  
  
"And further more," continued Roger, "You will not harass me. I am your officer, and you are under my supervison until the first of March. You will listen to every word I say. You will..."  
  
This tirade continued on for the next ten minutes. Roger was so captivated about how well he was speaking he didn't notice Reno playing with his fork. After a while, Reno got an idea. He stood up and dug a magic marker and some materia out of his backpack. The emerald-green orb shined with an inner light. Roger still didn't notice anything.  
  
Reno muttered some words and immediatly the materia began to glow brightly. Roger's eyes widened in surprise, but he soon found himself unable to keep his eyelids up. He slowly snaked to the ground and hit the floor with a dull thud.   
  
"Bingo." said Reno, and walked over to Roger. "Hey, Rog. You awake?" no answer. Roger's eyelids fluttered for an instant and then shut.  
  
"Awesome."  
  
The red-head grinned mischiviously as he took off the cap of the black marker. 'This'll make him more interesting...'  
  
He maliciously began drawing on Roger's face, grinning from ear to ear.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
On board the Highwind, Cloud leaned over the side, staring at the rapidly passing land below. The wind ruffled his golden locks and whipped across his pensive face. What had happened to him at the gym? It was a question he had been trying to answer ever since he he had returned. It was the strangest feeling...  
  
He was so deep in thought, he didn't notice the chocolate-haired woman that had quietly walked up to him.  
  
"Cloud?"  
  
Startled, Cloud jumped up and got into his fighting stance. It probably would have been more intimidating if his sword was with him.  
  
"Oh, Tifa." he blushed and scratched his head, staring at the floor. "I, um...sorry."  
  
Tifa chuckled. "It would work better if you had a weapon. I polished it up a bit for you. It's in the chocobo stables."  
  
"Thanks." he turned around and leaned against the rail again. Tifa silently padded next to him and joined him in his staring.  
  
"Cloud?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"...thanks."  
  
Cloud looked up at his companion. "For what?"  
  
Tifa continued to stare at the passing landscape. "Thanks for being here. I mean, I've been thinking lately and...nevermind."  
  
Cloud continued to stare at her. He had been such an ass lately, and yet she still seems to care about him. After everything he had done to her. He practically ignored her while Aeris was around, and he even pretended that her love for him never existed. Not to mention the thing at the gym.  
  
He turned his entire body toward Tifa and asked her flatly. "Why?"  
  
Tifa looked up. "'Why' what?"  
  
"Why do you still care? Why do you still want to be with me?"  
  
Tifa looked hurt. "I've told you many times, Cloud. Maybe not with exact words, but I thought I got the point across to you. I love you Cloud. I don't care how you feel about me or still feel about Aeris, and I will always be by your side."  
  
Tifa as turned to leave Cloud grabbed her arm and spun her to look at him. For a moment he was taken aback by her eyes. He had known her practically all his life and he had never noticed the color of her eyes. Now he looked at her differently. She didn't seem like the Tifa he knew anymore. Had he "forgotten" about her for that long?  
  
"Tifa...I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything."  
  
"Cloud-" he held a finger to her lips to silence her.  
  
"No. I've been such an idiot lately, and I'm sorry."  
  
Cloud looked into her eyes, searching for something. He didn't even know what he was searching for before he found it. He gently pulled her into a warm embrace and kissed her deeply.   
  
At that moment, Cid Highwind was passing by, and with a shocked "Whoa..." he broke into a quick jog to the cockpit. 'That damn kid.'  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Elena had finally gotten about half of her work done by working extra hours. Tired, but satisfied, she began to work on a report about the different people who owed Shinra money. After about five minutes of typing, she heard her pager go off. Curious, she opened her bag and read the message. She scanned it quickly, then hailed Rude to take a look.  
  
It read:  
  
My beloved friends! This is gonna have to be quick on account of this moronic bastard chasing me. And to think, all I did was draw on his face! Things are stupid here. Nearly got eaten by a dragon on the way in because of the same dumbass. Listened to a stupid speech by that moron, put him to sleep, doodled a bit, and here I am. Hope you guys are doing as terribly as I am. Gotta go bye!  
  
R.  
  
"He is such an idiot." muttered Elena.  
  
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A/N:  
  
Hihihihi! Hope you liked it. Wish me luck in this play thing I gotta do on Thursday, gotta go now, hope luck is with you all! 


	7. Chapter 7

A/N:  
  
It's been a while my friends! Sorry I took so long. Here's the fic!  
  
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"I'LL GET YOU FOR THIS!!!" shouted Roger. To wake up to a mirror and see your face doodled on with a black pen did not improve his liking of this Reno. It was even worse when he found that the red-haired man was a good deal faster than he was.  
  
"I PRAY YOU DIE A SLOW AND PAINFUL DEATH!"  
  
The bright-eyed Reno craned his neck to get a good look at Roger. "Really? That's amazing! I was just about to say the same to you!"  
  
"Gaahhh!!! I'll put a poisonous snake in your bed!"  
  
"Wow! Letting me die in my sleep! What a pal!"  
  
"You wait until my fists reach your face!"  
  
"If you could throw a decent punch!"  
  
"Dammit! Hold still already!"  
  
"Aw. Am I tiring wittle baby Woger out? How cute!"  
  
Roger came to a sudden stop. He raised a trembling fist at Reno. "YOU'LL PAY! MY ANCESTORS WILL GIVE ME THE STRENGTH TO DEFEAT YOU! MY..."  
  
Reno shifted his weight to one foot and rested his chin in one hand and his elbow in another and stared at Roger as if intent on his tirade. "Uh huh. Amazing. Yeah. I totally agree." He pulled out a small pager and began to type something all the while nodding agreement. After sending his message he looked up at his seething partner. "DID YOU EVEN HEAR A SINGLE WORD I SAID!?"   
  
Reno gave Roger an innocent look. "Oh, I'm sorry. Were we supposed to be taking notes?"  
  
"I HATE YOU! MAY YOUR BONES ROT AND THE DEVIL HAVE NO MERCY ON YOUR SOUL!"  
  
The aqua-eyed Turk opened his mouth to reply, but a quiet beeping interrupted his comment. Both Reno and Roger looked up to the source of the sound. The red head smirked. "Eight 'o clock. You were supposed to give me a tour right? Or is it already your bedtime?"  
  
"GAH!!! WHY YOU! ARGH! I HATE Y-" Roger stopped in mid-sentence and let out sounds of aggravation. After he regained his composure, he muttered, "I'm fine. Okay, he's just trying to annoy me. Stick to the schedule." to Reno he said," Ahem. If you'll step through this doorway, you will see that this is the Monitor Room. I assume you know what a Monitor Room is?"  
  
Reno gave Roger an innocent look and said in a baby voice, "No mister Woger, pwease tell me."  
  
"Cute. Over through this door is your sleeping quarters. Mine is the through the door to the left of the Moniter Room. To left of my sleeping quarters is the bathroom. Next to yours is the Data Room. That's where all the files and computers are. If you'll follow me, we will go to the most important room of all."  
  
"The kitchen?"   
  
"No, the vault."  
  
Reno grinned. "Ah. Is there anything in there now?"  
  
"Why yes actua-waitaminute! No there isn't. I wouldn't tell you the passcode anyway! So there!"   
  
"Whatever."  
  
"This is where we will be dropping off item 6025926. Do you have the box?"  
  
Reno sauntered over to the cardboard box and with a grunt he lifted it. "Yeah, I got it."  
  
Roger sniffed haughtily. "Hmph. Well, let's go then. We have to go down two flights of stairs, so hurry up."  
  
Reno's bright aquamarine eyes widened. "T-two flights of s-stairs? With *this* thing?" he struggled to maintain his balance. Roger smirked, eyes glinting as he finally heard of something to insult Reno with.   
  
"What's the matter Reno? Is that box too heavy for you? Would you like me to carry it?"   
  
Reno's expression changed from dread to such an exaggerated perkiness that it made Roger want to vomit. His eyes sparkeled with false admiration. "Oh, why thank you Roger." he quickly dropped to box into his partner's arms. "How very generous. I had my doubts at first, but now I know how kind you really are!"  
  
"Dammit! That's not fair!" whined Roger.   
  
"Come come now my friend! Item 28-something can't wait long!" said Reno, bouncing with each step.  
  
"IT'S 6025926!" yelled Roger as he struggled to keep up with his rival's pace.  
  
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Half an hour later, the perky Reno tapped his foot impatiently as the puffing Roger leaned up against a wall while he caught his breath. After a few minutes of rest, Roger straightened and patted his sweating forehead with the corner of his vest. Reno could wait no longer.  
  
"FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! OPEN THE DAMN THING ALREADY!!!"  
  
Roger's attention snapped to Reno. "Don't rush me! I'll open it when I'm good and rea-hey!"  
  
Reno had already begun to tear at the packaging. "You're too slow! I'm *dying* to know what's in here!"  
  
Roger just looked on in horror. "No not like that! Wait! you're supposed to-hey! Oh! I give up! I can't look!" he covered his eyes leaving just half an inch of space between his fingers so he could still see what the impatient and destructive Reno was doing.  
  
"I thought you couldn't look." Reno said when he stole a glance up at Roger. "There! All done! Wha-?"   
  
Reno peeked in side. He saw a gigantic spere of what looked like...water. Inside it he could just barely see a smaller orb inside. "What the hell is this?" he poked it, and found it was indeed water, but held it's form.  
  
Roger was awestruck, and could not answer.   
  
'Uh oh, Roger's not saying anything.' thought Reno. 'This must be serious...well, let's have a closer look at this object.' Reno picked the "solid water" up, and surprisingly enough it was light as a feather.   
  
"How the-"  
  
Just then, Roger came out of his trance. He gasped when he saw Reno balancing the orb on the tip of his finger. "Be careful!" Roger quickly snatched away the sphere. "If you drop it the magic will shatter! Then the water will no longer be able to hold it's form and item number 6025926 will be destroyed!"  
  
"Uh...what?"  
  
Roger reclaimed his dignity. He stood up straight and tall. "You don't know about the free magic out there, do you? There is only one kind of free magic, or was."   
  
Reno looked up. "'Was'?"  
  
"yes, 'was'. The ancient races that had this ability became extinct. We have reason to believe that these races were exiles of the Cetra, and died out with them."  
  
"Then how did you get your hands on this?" Reno pointed to the watery ball.  
  
"That's classified information." Roger sniffed. "Only President Rufus knows."  
  
Reno smirked. "So even you don't know? And you were intrusted with this project?"  
  
Roger glared at him. "It is information so valuable that the only copy of the files is locked up in President Rufus' own office. Now please, let me continue! Of the in formation that is known to the common workers of Shinra, even President Rufus doesn't know what this power is or how it works. All we know is that the power, and its casters, are dead. However, there has been a rumor spreading that Shinra has recently discovered through multiple tests that it is closley linked to the ancient power summon monsters and the creatures of yore."  
  
For once Reno was paying attention to Roger. Attempting to take advantage of the rare occasion, Roger added, "And I personally believe that-"  
  
"Alright. You had me, and then you lost me. So what do we do with this....this.." he struggled to find a word to describe the rare treasure. "......thing."  
  
"We put it in the vault and contact President Rufus." Roger punched in a few numbers on the vault and gingerly set the orb of water on a shelf. He quickly shut the vault door, and turned to Reno. "One of the two rooms that I haven't shown you yet is the Communications Room. Let's go. We must contact the headquarters." With that said, he turned his heel and marched up the stairs.  
  
"Geez, he makes it seem like a privelage to work for that blonde bastard." Reno muttered, and trotted up the stairs behind his adversary.   
  
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Midnight. The pale moon's face played with dark shades of black that danced around the tree trunks. Nothing was visible beyond twenty feet of the facility. A dark shadow crept around the perimeter of the building, silent feet avoiding every leaf and twig. The silhouette leaped from it's place, easily jumping over the barbed fence. Landing in a cat-like position it crouched for a moment, its keen sense of hearing straining to find any sign of being heard.  
  
Finding no trace of alarm, the dark shape silently crept towards the air-tight door of the concrete facility. Looking at the lock and recognizing it to be the best of its time, the thing began to work at the titanium door. A quick slice of a special stealth knife easily cut through the alloy. Knowing that an alarm had been triggered, the shape disappeared into the shadows. It waited.  
  
Five seconds...  
  
Ten seconds...  
  
Thirty seconds...  
  
The shadow heard no noise inside. Swiftly it cut a large square out of the door and jumped through, never making a sound. Landing crouched, it immediatly laid flat with its stomach two inches above the ground. Quickly it crawled to a door and silently opened it, seeing a long staircase, it jumped through and landed on a platform. The figure had jumped clear over an entire flight of stairs, and not the slightest noise came from it. Doing the same for the next flight, it had already reached its destination. Standing to its full height, the shape walked to the vault door.  
  
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A/N:  
  
Sorry for leaving it at a bit of a cliff hanger, and I hope none of you guys fall off! Phew! That chapter was long! And it was hard not being too repetitive. If I was, e-mail me and I'll do it over. Sorry it took so long to get out, thank you for being patient. Bye bye for now! 


	8. Chapter 8

A/N:  
  
Now to break the cliffhanger! No, I don't and never will own FF7, okay? Stop asking, dammit! No flames pleeze! Didn't your parents tell you not to play with fire?  
  
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The figure took out its knife once again and began to delicately cut a medium sized hole in the door of the safe. it reached in, and pulled out the orb of water. It slammed its hand into the ball, and a sound like breaking glass echoed throughout the facility. When the figure withdrew its hand it held a small glowing blue gem. It quickly wrapped the tiny sphere in oiled cloth.   
  
The figure's head snapped up as it heard a door open. When it heard footsteps coming down the stairs, it quickly hid in the shadows.   
  
"Hello?" called Roger. "Hello?" he hesitantly walked further into the room. He strained his ears, waiting for an answer. Suspiciously he observed the hole cut into the vault. His eyes widened when he saw water spilled on the ground. "Hello?" he called out again. Silence.  
  
Though the room was quiet, he did not hear as death hissed forward to claim him.  
  
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It was about nine o' clock PM and Yuffie had just finished hurling when she heard Cid call everyone over to the bridge. She sprinted over to the bridge where everyone stood in a semicircle around Cid. He puffed his cigarette and cleared his throat.  
  
"Now if you $%#&!*^ people will look over the edge of this *beautiful* vessel in a few minutes you will see the exotic island Dai Shisai. Right now we're over %^&$*#@ Wutai, and we're-"  
  
"Hey!" Yuffie screeched. "Don't you DARE talk like that about Wutai! It's better than you're old rusty Rocket Town!" When she said "Rocket Town", it seemed as if the word itself left a bad taste in her mouth.  
  
"Hey hey hey! This is MY #^$*&^) ship, and I can @#$%^$% say whatever I #$@!^%& want about ^&%#$%# anything, okay?! Now shut up."  
  
Yuffie glared at Cid. He met her blazing eyes with his own until Yuffie finally sighed and plopped down on the floor of the airship cross-legged with a pouty looked on her face.  
  
"As I was saying, we're gonna stop at Wutai to pick up some supplies. We need to get the hell outta there as soon as possible though. Red said that Dai ShiSai is sacred to them, and the longer we stay, the more time a certain SOMEBODY-" his eyes focused on Yuffie. "has to let everyone know where we're going. Red, take over from here."  
  
Nanaki put a paw to his mouth and coughed. "I prefer to be called 'Nanaki'. Now, if we may proceed to the meeting room. I have some information I would like to present."  
  
The entire company left the cockpit and headed towards the meeting room. When everyone was seated, Nanaki ran to the front of the room. "If you will direct your attention to the board, you will see our course. We are right now hovering over Wutai. If we continue along this path like so-" his nose traced over a dotted green line that appeared on the map. "-we will be over Dai ShiSai in approximatly fifteen minutes. I have gotten a map of the terrain of the island, and most of it seems to be forested. There is a large enough patch of land, though, right next to this small lake." He pointed a paw towards the plot of land on a map of Dai ShiSai that was now on the monitor. His amber eyes snapped to Cid.  
  
"Cid, I trust your pilot has the skills to land the ship on that plot of land?"  
  
Cid frowned. "No $%#@&*^ way. He'll crash. I'll do it, and we'll all be safe and sound, okay?"  
  
Nanaki nodded. "As long as we make it. Alright, an interesting feature I would like to point out is the slightly raised surface in the heart of the forest. Its top is completely smooth."  
  
"So, it's man-made?" Tifa inquired. Nanaki twitched his tail. "Yes. We have reason to believe that this is the concrete facility Cloud say in his dream."   
  
Tifa glanced worriedly at Cloud. "Do you have the exact coordinates of the building?"  
  
"No. That's why we are meeting. I need help estimating the coordinates of the facility. I need at least two coordinates."  
  
"We're going to be splitting up into two groups?" asked Vincent cooly.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"When do we assign the groups?" asked Yuffie.  
  
"Please, back to more important matters. Now for the coordinates. Any estimates?"  
  
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It was two hours before two coordinates came up. In those two hours Yuffie had devised a plan. She had already written down a quick note of the plans, which was her suggestion that at least an army came to stop them. When they had reached Wutai, they each climbed down the rope ladder and went their seperate ways. Vincent and Cloud went to get their weapons overhauled, and Tifa went to get supplies. Nanaki stayed on the ship to see if he could possibly get the exact coordinates. Barret and Cid were drinking at the bar. Yuffie went off alone, and tied a note to a tawny cat's neck and whispered something to it. It mewed as if in objection, but ran off like a streak straight to the tower, where Godo was training.  
  
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A loud noise awoke Reno. The fire-haired man sat up in bed and stared defiantly at his alarm clock.  
  
'Damn, I HATE mornings.' he yawned, stretched, and forced himself to get dressed. After he was clothed, Reno trudged to the door, not looking forward to another day with the arrogant Roger. As soon as he entered the corridor, he tensed. The stench of death was wafting into his sensitive nose. He hurried towards the smell, already knowing what he would find.  
  
When he reached the vault, the first thing he saw was Roger's body, surrounded by a pool of blood. A gash in his side went straight through to his backbone, which was snapped in two. Reno could tell that from the look on his face Roger had never even known his assailant was coming. Near him was another smaller pool of water, drops of blood had turned it a translucent red. When he looked at the safe, he saw a hole cut into it. From what he had seen, he could already tell that the magicked orb was gone.  
  
Though Reno walked calmly upstairs, the expression on his face passive, his heart was beating faster than it ever had before. His job, and his life, had always been dangerous and gruesome, but something about that scene sent an unwelcome chill up his spine. He knew that he'd have to retrieve the object taken from the vault. Normally, he'd think, 'Hell, why not? Sounds easy enough.' but for some unknown reason, the need to leave the facility scared him. He feared the indeginous creatures; he remembered his first encounter. And yet, it seemed some other, deeper reason was the root of his fear. But he couldn't quite find it.  
  
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A/N:  
  
Waah! No new reviews. -_- Oh well. Reviews or not, I will continue my story, cuz I like writing it as much as I like reading reviews! Bye for now! 


	9. Chapter 9

A/N:  
  
I am sooooo sorry that I didn't get this out quicker. I FINALLY finished school for now. Yay! ::does happy dance:: From now on, I'll try update at least once a week, okay? I PROMISE. It'll be the second thing on my To-Do List. Stretching's my first. ^_~ Well, I hope you like the chapter!  
  
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Reno sighed. It was about six pm and still not a trace of the thief. He had looked all along the coastline where the monsters weren't so abundant. The only thing he found there were a few weak chocobos that ran away as soon as he got near them. That reminded him. Where in the hell did GoldenTail get to?   
  
'That damn chocobo! It must've ran off when I was fighting Roger...'  
  
Cursing silently, he trudged along what had to be his fifteenth lap around the island. After coming back to the same spot he had started,he sat down and thought. He had prayed the culprit would be somewhere on the beach. He kept telling himself that he was just going around the island one more time to double check, but as he raised his downcast eyes to the ominous trees, he realized the truth.  
  
'I'm afraid.' He thought bitterly. 'Me. A Turk. The famous Reno, is afraid of some trees. Why the hell would I be afraid of a bunch of fire wood?' It was another one of his unanswerable questions, for he could find no reason to be frightened.  
  
As he continued to stare at the forest, he keen sense of hearing picked up a whirring sound. He looked up, and then began to swear violently. In his line of vision he saw a small dot coming closer and closer. He knew, somehow he knew that that dot was the Highwind.  
  
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"Argh! I can't take it anymore! Aren't we there YET?" wailed Yuffie. She could have sworn that Dai ShiSai was closer than THIS.   
  
"For the last $!&#*@% time Yuffie, we are not there yet! The engines are actin' up! Now shut up and sit down!" shouted Cid. "You're annoying as hell, you know that, Kisargi? I don't know why Cloud said you could come!"  
  
"Because she would follow us and make more of a fuss if Cloud had said no." Tifa said as she walked into the cockpit. "How close are we?" she looked out the large many-paned window.   
  
"Well, that's the island right there." Cid pointed a gloved finger. "We should be landing by about-" he glanced at his watch. "-six fifteen."  
  
"Thanks Cid. Do you know where Cloud is?" Her eyes searched the cockpit. "I need to tell him something."   
  
Cid grinned. "What? A love confession?"  
  
"No, Cid. I've got some information he might want."   
  
"Well, last I saw him he was in the chocobo stables. The perfect place for love, I'm sure."  
  
Tifa sighed and shook her head. "And we trust you with the Highwind?"   
  
Before Cid could reply, she turned and headed for the chocobo stables.   
  
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Sure enough, Tifa found Cloud in the stables. The man who usually was there had gone off to do something, leaving Cloud to his thoughts. He didn't even notice Tifa walk in.  
  
'I wonder what he's thinking about...whenever he does this, he never notices what happens around him. It seems kinda dangerous.' Tifa tip-toed in and sat down softly next to him. Still, Cloud didn't notice.  
  
"Cloud..? Hey, Cloud? Hello?" Tifa leaned over to get a better look at his face. 'He seemed so...tense.' Tifa thought. 'Maybe he's thinking about Sephiroth...'   
  
After waiting a few minutes Tifa decided that it would be better to leave Cloud to his thoughts for the time being. As she stood, Cloud suddenly reached out and grabbed her arm. Startled, she kicked out, but missed.  
  
"Tifa." Cloud spoke a little differently. He didn't seem to be his calm usual self. Something was bothering him.  
  
"Cloud? What's wrong?"  
  
"I think that...I think that Aeris..."  
  
Tifa's mind flared. He should know better than to mention Aeris to her! He should have! But then again, she never did display any hatred against the Cetra girl, actually she really did miss her, but still!   
  
'Wait...' one part of her mind said. 'It might be important.'  
  
Swallowing her anger, Tifa managed to force out, "What about Aeris?"   
  
"...I think that Aeris...well...when Sephiroth..." Cloud could feel his throat tighten. "When he...killed Aeris, something...came out." Cloud sighed in his mind. He had no idea how to put this in words.  
  
Tifa looked at him quizzically. "'Came out'?"  
  
"Yeah...I saw....as she fell, this...mist or something came out of her and it...it went to you."  
  
Tifa's eyes widened in shock. What was he talking about?   
  
"Wh-what?"  
  
"It went straight to you. I need to know. Did you feel anything different after that moment?"  
  
"Cloud, I-"  
  
"Did you?" he asked forcefully. "I need to know!" Cloud tightened his grip on her arm.  
  
"Cloud! You hurting me!"  
  
He pulled her closer until his face was only inches from hers.  
  
"Did you?"  
  
Tifa shook her head frantically, and with a grunt Cloud let her go. Tifa backed away quickly, cradling the arm Cloud held so strongly. Looking at her arm she already saw bruises in the shape of his fingers appearing. She stared at him. Cloud suddenly seemed different. His eyes seemed to glow.  
  
Suddenly, his eyes flashed green. Tifa yelped in surprise. For a second he looked like...  
  
"Sephiroth..." she whispered.  
  
As she stared, she felt him change again. Something about the air around him. She knew he was back. His eyes seemed sad.  
  
"Cloud?"  
  
He bowed his head in shame. "Tifa...I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you..."  
  
To be honest, Tifa was scared stiff. She had no idea what was going on, and the flash of Sephiroth was the worst thing she had seen for a while. Mustering up her courage, Tifa walked over to him and gently touched his arm. It was like touching a lion; he might attack her at anytime, and she wasn't sure the risk was worth taking.  
  
Tifa inwardly sighed in relief as Cloud looked up into her face and put a hand on hers. She sat down next to him.  
  
"Cloud. What's going on?"  
  
Cloud just stared off into space.  
  
"...I don't know..."  
  
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Godo rubbed his temples. He didn't want to work with these amatuers... To make sure he was doing the right thing, he checked the message written by Yuffie.  
  
It said:  
  
Godo! We've got a situation here! Cloud and his idiotic friends are heading to Dai ShiSai! Do something! Don't summon though. You know what happens when you summon against Dai ShiSai. Get an army of assassins and attack! You can't let them get to the Spire!  
  
Sighing again, Godo looked at his "army of assassins". From the looks of it, none of them could even throw a Shuriken. A few were shooting arrows (missing the target completely), some were practicing flips (failing miserably), and some were "working out" which looked more like a pathetic attempt to break their bones than tone their muscles.  
  
Then, Godo had an idea. He knew a number of tribes hidden on the surrounding islands. With some of their power, he could create powerful enough illusions to create an army of them! And illusions never question the mage who made them....  
  
"Alright, listen up! I want all of you to get out of my sight! Go on! OUT!"  
  
Muttering curses, all the men trudged away. Godo stopped one of the men.  
  
"Hey, if you can go and get the mage of the Ageda tribe, you'll be greatly rewarded."  
  
The man jumped up. "Really?!" He squealed happily.   
  
Godo took a tiny step back. "Uh...yeah, sure. Now go!"  
  
The man skipped off toward the island of the Ageda tribe.  
  
'Am I going to regret that?' Godo wondered.  
  
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A/N:  
  
Yippie! I finished it! Don't worry, I maybe, probably, most likely, will not make Cloud another Sephiroth....or maybe I will. YOU MAY NEVER KNOW! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAhahahahaaaa........*cough* 


	10. Chapter 10

A/N:  
  
Aw, DAMN! How long has it been since I updated this? I'm so sorry everyone! T_T I can't believe I neglected my fic AND my fans for so long...I probably lost everyone...v_v Oh CRAP! I promised a new chap every week! GOMEN NASAI!!!!! Well, here ya are folks!  
  
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The red-headed Turk stared at the ever-increasing dot in the sky. He didn't like this. Even after the entire Meteor incident he didn't like those people. Sure, he had a moderate respect for Cloud's Rag Team, but he knew that he could never be good friends with them.  
  
"Aw, shit. This is starting to piss me off. Why are they coming here?"  
  
He reached into his breast pocket and withdrew a cigarette. Lighting it casually, he continued to stare at the ship, now visible enough to get it's outline. Yeah, it was the Highwind alright.  
  
Sighing, Reno stood and and shoved his hands into his pockets. Turning he around, he began to walk slowly back to the headquarters. No luck on the jewel thief, his co-worker was dead, and Cloud was coming!  
  
"This is too much." he muttered bitterly.   
  
Suddenly, he felt something. It wasn't the kind of physical contact, but a mental state that came to him everytime something out of place was near. Reno looked up and reached for his gun. Of course he had forgotten his nightstick back at the base.  
  
He narrowed his eyes as he scanned the trees. Nothing looked out of place, but the feeling was lingering. He violently whipped his head back and forth, determined to find the source of the odd sense.   
  
'C'mon...I know you're out there...'  
  
When nothing came, Reno straightened. That creature would pop up more often, no doubt.   
  
'It wouldn't be surprising if the thing jumped me.' he thought angrily. He continued to walk ack to the concrete facility, but he still couldn't shake that strange feeling.  
  
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"Ah, to hell with this! Full speed ahead!" Shouted the irritated Cid. The island was right in front of them and never seemed to get any closer. But the thing that was making him so ticked off was Yuffie. She sat cross-legged right next to him, shouting at the top of her lungs.  
  
"YOUCAN'TGOOVERTHEREIWON'TLETYOUMYDADDY'LLTEACHYOUATHINGORTWOYOUSTOPTHISRIGHTNOWDON'TYOUIGNOREMETHISISN'TFAIRWHATTHEHELLDOYOUTHINKYOU'REDOINGGOINGOVERTHEREC'MONISAIDSTOPTHISRIGHTNOWYOU-"  
  
"YUFFIE! SHUT UP!" Everyone in the bridge stared at Vincent. He had barely said a word the entire trip, and *never* shouted. So startled was Yuffie, she had forgotten what she was even yelling about. Vincent leaned back against the wall once more and continued to stare out of the huge window at the front of the bridge.  
  
Blinking, Cid straightened. "I'll uh...be right back. I'm gonna...get a few drinks..." he stumbled out of the room, still stunned at Vincent.  
  
Nanaki made a questioning expression. "Vincent? I never knew you could raise your voice at such a high level. Actually, I don't think I ever knew anyone who could shout louder than Yuffie..."  
  
The enigmatic man shrugged nonchalantly. "You should never take strong actions unless they must be used. In this case, I'm sure it was necessary to use those actions." The fire-red cat nodded in reply.  
  
"I keep learning new things every day!" said Tifa brightly. "Vincent, you are a very mysterious person. I bet everyone here sees a new side of you each day."  
  
Vincent regarded Tifa coolly. "No one has seen a new side of me. No one ever has, and no one ever will, because there is no more than one side to me." with that the dark-haired man walked out of the bridge.  
  
Tifa's eyes followed him out all the way. '...and I don't think anyone will even meet that one side of him.' She looked down sadly at the ground. After what happened with Cloud, she had needing some cheering up, but Vincent had just crushed her good mood. Sighing, she walked over to Yuffie, who was still stunned.  
  
"You can't understand men, can you?" she said wistfully.  
  
"I guess not..." was the young girl's stiff reply.  
  
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A young man about twenty years of age jogged happily along a rough trail. He jumped and spun along his path, so excited about the important mission he was just handed by Godo. The Ageda tribe was held in high regard of Wutai, and that he was considered loyal enough to bear a message to them made him whoop with joy. Maybe he'd get that position in the Pagoda after all!  
  
The man looked up at the stone rock in his path. Knocking on it four times, he stepped back and waited. The rock shook violently and then opened a small cave in its side. The man stepped into the cave and jumped down the hole in its floor. After walking a ways and climbing some rope ladders, he reached sunlight. Before his eyes was the most awesome sight he had ever seen.   
  
Four towering pagodas, each made of white marble, stood at the four ends of the village. The houses of the Ageda tribe were the size of small mansions made of birchbark. One huge mansion at the north end of the tribe stood proudly on a hilltop, its alabaster pillars giving it an inner glow.  
  
The young man stepped forward nervously, taking in his glorious surroundings. After staring at the houses, he began to run towards the mansion on the hilltop. If he was late with the mage, Godo might not give him a position in the pagoda.  
  
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Reno sat back in the swivel chair of the moniter room. He had nothing to do. Searching for the thief was a no-go as well; he had already almost gotten eaten by a dragon after his second search.  
  
Then an odd thought came to him. Why didn't he greet the crew of the Highwind? He had nothing better to do, and it's better than sneaking around and accidently getting cut in half by Cloud.  
  
'Not like he wouldn't do it on purpose anyway...' he thought bitterly. Stretching he began to trudge out the door again. As soon as he left the building that feeling came up. He had decided not to look for its source, but he didn't forget it nightstick this time.  
  
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Cloud stretched as he jumped off the Highwind and onto solid ground. It was great being back on land. He grinned as Yuffie hopped onto the island and kissed the sandy beach. Tifa climbed down the ladder and took in her surroundings.  
  
"Well, this is a nice place." she commented. Her eyes scanned the trees until they met Cloud's and held. He was grinning broadly, but Tifa looked away quickly, suddenly becoming interested in the sand. Cloud frowned and began to walk towards her. He still felt bad about what had happened earlier, and wanted to make it up to her.  
  
"What's wrong, Tif?" he asked, his face an expression of concern.  
  
"It's nothing, I guess..." the brown-haired woman replied. "It's just that, every time I-" she was cut off by a lion's roar and a "Whoa!". They turned to see Nanaki, fur raised and teeth bared, and Barret, his gun-arm focused on a target. Following their glares, Tifa and Cloud gasped.  
  
Reno stood before them, waving nonchalantly.  
  
"Hey guys. Long time no see."  
  
"Reno." Vincent stared at the red-haired Turk. "What might you be doing here?"  
  
The man gave them a lopsided grin. "Well, I got a job to do over here. I saw you coming and decided to meet ya. It's been a while, hasn't it?"  
  
"Not long enough." growled Cloud, his Ultima sword glowing and ready.   
  
"Cloud." Tifa gave him a warning glance and them began to walk up to Reno.  
  
"Tifa!" Cloud reached out to stop her, but she was already right in front of the Shinra employee.   
  
"It has been a long time, hasn't it? I guess it was just a matter of time until we met up again."  
  
Reno smirked. "Well, I see you've changed. For the better of course."   
  
"I don't think I want to know what makes you say that."  
  
"I assure you madam, it's nothing to be ashamed of." he gave a her a sly wink followed by a growl from Cloud. "Now now, my gentleman, this is no time for hostility." Reno gave a mock bow.   
  
Nanaki lunged forward and roared loudly. Reno frowned at him. "Down, kitty." Looking up at the rest of the crew, the Turk straightened. "I got a building in the forest, you guys should come over and hang out for a bit."  
  
Many shouts of disapproval came from the Highwind's crew. Reno grinned again.   
"I'm not surprised. I don't blame you for not trusting me, but hey, suit yourself. I'd think that my place'd be better than camping out in the forest. There's some weird shit goin' on in there, not to mention dragons."  
  
Barret scoffed. "Y'think dat some dragins are gonna scare us off? You got a screw loose er sumthin' if ya think that. We took on Sephiroth! Ain't no dragins gonna leave us shakin'."  
  
The red-head shrugged. "Teach his own, but I'm just sayin', these are different. And there's something there. I'm not sure what it is, but every time it's near, I can feel it."  
  
A long pause followed. No one moved. Everyone seemed to be focusing on the feeling the Turk explained. Cloud seemed to hear everything of the forest; trees rustling, the wind that gently ruffled his hair. But heheard something else...a breathing. Deep and rumbling. Was the ground *breathing*?   
  
Suddenly, Reno's eyes widened. "THERE IT IS!" he shouted, pulling out his gun and turning towards the trees. Startled, everyone got ready for battle. He laughed and shouted, "Psyche!"   
  
"That wasn't funny, Reno!" Tifa glared.  
  
"That, my friend, is in the eye of the beholder."  
  
"So is the term 'friend.'"  
  
"Touche."  
  
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A/N:  
  
*wrings hands nervously* was it OK? I hope so....^_^* Sorry for getting it out so late...and I'm sorry if it's short. Let me know and I'll try to get out longer chapters the next time, kay? ^_~ Later minna! 


	11. Chapter 11

A/N:  
  
Alright, I'll be honest. I'm seriously slacking on this right now, cuz I got this other fanfic I'm doing in a joint project with Too Human Lately. Eventually I'll put it up. And as soon as I'm inspired, I'll do a Trigun fic. That has gotta be the BEST anime I've seen in a while. Don't even start ratting on me about "Oh no! DRAGON BALL Z is SO much cooler!" cuz to be honest, DBZ is the most moronic and crappiest anime I've ever seen. I'd rather watch Pokemon. Moving on, here's the fic. ^_~ (BTW Incase you guys didn't notice already, there's a bit of Yuffie-bashing. Not serious though. ^_^)  
  
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Sighing, Tifa sat back in the black swivel chair as she stared at the concrete ceiling.  
  
'Well this is pleasant.' she thought dryly. 'I'm stuck in a concrete building with Reno and Yuffie.' at the thought of the young ninja, the brunette shuddered. Yuffie had done nothing but shout, eat, and sleep. If it weren't for Reno getting to her with his smartass comments, everyone in the building would freak.   
  
'Don't we have a reason to be here?' Tifa wondered idly. She remembered that they came to the island for something specific, but she had forgotten. Suddenly, a loud clang and a screech sounded out side. Jumping up, the red-eyed woman ready for combat; and then remembered where she was. With a disgruntled sigh, she plopped back down into her seat.  
  
Tifa then heard a quiet chuckle behind her. Turning her chair, she saw Cloud, his sword drawn and ready.  
  
"I guess we're both so used to fighting, we kinda forget there's ever time when we don't need to."  
  
Scowling, Tifa stared at the blonde. "I can't stand it. This is so boring, that I'm considering yelling along with Yuffie just to get a good reaction out of everyone."   
  
Cloud smirked. "I know. But with monsters like those out there-" he jerked his head towards the wall. "We can't do a thing."  
  
Scarlet eyes glared into glowing aqua ones. "It used to be that we would take on anyone, and anything. Now we're being held in with Reno because of some dragons? We took out so many when we were searching for Sephiroth and now we're too afraid to go out an face a few! Come one, Cloud!"  
  
Cloud glared right back at the young woman. "Tifa, you have to understand. Do you remember the dragon we met along the way to this facility?"  
  
Tifa looked at her red shoes. When Cloud had attacked it, the sword screeched against the scales like metal on metal. Enraged, the dragon had reared and attacked. It hit Barret on full force, nearly killing him. No matter how many times they attacked, and no matter how many times they scattered to avoid the vicious beast, it never seemed to tire. Finally, seeing no way to defeat the dragon, they retreated.   
  
The blonde nodded. "That's what I thought. But until we find a way to beat those monsters, we're stuck here."  
  
Tifa rolled her head. "It's not so much the fact that we're stuck here, it's just that-"  
  
"YUFFIE GET BACK HERE WITH MY NIGHTSTICK!"  
  
Yuffie came charging into the room giggling, throwing Reno's nightstick up in the air like a baton.   
  
"YUFFIE! I'M NOT KIDDING!"  
  
Reno flew past Tifa with such speed that it surprised her that he hadn't caught the ninja already.  
  
Still giggling, Yuffie turned and said, "No way!"  
  
Growling, Reno sprang forward and tackled the thief.   
  
"EEP!"  
  
Reno gave the teen a lopsided grin. "I'll take that." he plucked his nightstick from Yuffie's dazed grip, straightened, and walked off whistling. Cloud stared for a moment.  
  
"Uh, did I miss something?"  
  
"I think we're better off not knowing."  
  
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A bored young woman, no older than twenty, reclined against the trunk of the tree she sat in. She was at least thirty feet above the ground, on a sturdy branch. She toyed with a gem the same piercing blue color of her eyes.  
  
"Hmph. So this is the stone." she thought aloud. "Doesn't seem so great. I doubt it's part of other key to the Spire." Sighing, she began to toss the jewel in the air, catching if deftly. "But if things don't start to speed up around here, those guys from Wutai are gonna stop us before we can even begin." She sighed once more, and stood.  
  
"Oh well. At least I get a little more time to enjoy life." With two fingers the woman stroked the trunk of the tree fondly. The place where she touched the tree glowed blood red, and then turned into a pair of burns. Turquois eyes glared at the scars her touch had left. "Well, isn't that great. It's already starting and I've only got part of the next key." swearing violently, she jumped down from the tree and disappeared in the shadows.  
  
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The red-headed Turk muttered as he worked on one of the computers in the Data Room. Yuffie had had a little too much fun with his nightstick and broke the main computer. Luckily for Reno, Roger was planning on updating it with new parts, and bumped all of the data to the next machine over. He swore as a tiny spark electricuted him.  
  
"Dammit, I dunno how that stupidass girl did it, but she totalled this comp!" Growling, he continued to replace the old parts with updated ones. "For once Roger did something smart and left the new parts out to finish..." the Turk jumped as another ear-piercing shriek sounded outside. "Geez! Do those things EVER shut up?!"   
  
"Talking to yourself?" looking up, Reno saw Vincent standing in the doorway. He gave the dark man a grin. "Well, you're the last person I'd think say anything to me. Or say anything to anyone for that matter."  
  
The former Turk turned his head away, watching Reno out of the corner of his eye. "I have nothing against you. I wasn't with Cloud and the others until after their fight with the Turks and Shinra. And I heard that you were fixing a computer."  
  
"And?"  
  
The red-caped man shrugged and turned to look at Reno again. "I had a feeling it'd be more interesting to watch than Yuffie's being right now."  
  
"Shut up." Aqua eyes snapped back to the computer parts.  
  
"...Do you need help?"  
  
"Why would I need *that*?"   
  
"Because you're putting the hard drive back where the floppy drive should be."  
  
"Ah."  
  
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'Oh, NO!' Tifa thought. 'It's almost dinnertime!' Her picture of Barret, Cloud, Yuffie, Red XIII, Vincent, Cid, and Reno all at the same table was not a pleasant one. She couldn't help but groan. Miserable scarlet eyes stared up at the clock. 'PLEASE stop. Or at least slow down! I'll mop the floors, wash the dishes, clean the entire building if you would PLEASE stop!'  
  
Of course, it didn't, and dinnertime rolled around faster than ever. Seven beeps from every clock in the facility signaled food, and Tifa could feel the earth shake as seven pairs of feet came charging to the table.  
  
"Aw, shit."  
  
"What's for dinner?"  
  
"I'm starved!"  
  
"I hope it's as big as my stomach right now!"  
  
"Where's the *@#$^%! tea?!"  
  
"Where's the food for that matter?"  
  
All sound stopped. Then, everyone turned and pointed to someone else. "It was YOUR turn!" The room got so loud with argument, Tifa covered her ears and shouted, "QUIET!" when she finally got everyone's attention, she straightened. "Look, there's enough food, okay? You're all just gonna have to wait! It's not finished yet!"  
  
After a moment of silence, Reno looked at Tifa. "So it was YOUR turn?"  
  
"ARGH! It doesn't matter whose &*^%#@! turn it was, Reno!"  
  
"Okay okay. Sheesh, aren't we bitchy."  
  
Cloud glared at the redhead. "She is NOT bitchy. Can you blame her for being stressed?"  
  
"Well now, I see another crabby person today. No wonder you guys like each other." both Tifa and Cloud blushed furiously. Reno grinned in victory. "We DO have some extra rooms, just say the word and-"  
  
"ENOUGH Reno." Nanaki's tail twitched. "You should quit while you're ahead."  
  
The Turk shrugged. "Alright. I'm just sayin', whenever they-"  
  
"Stop it Reno!"   
  
"Hey, it's perfectly natural. I-"  
  
"C'mon Reno, just cut it out!"  
  
"What? I mean, there's no shame in-"  
  
"Reno!"  
  
"Well, you know how it goes-"  
  
"FOR GOD'S SAKE RENO, JUST SHUT UP!"  
  
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Nanaki sighed and put his head on his paws. He was exhausted. Dinner was a complete catastrophe, and a memory he would be glad to forget.   
  
'First they duct tape Yuffie's feet to the chair, then Reno starts up. I don't think anyone'll survive the next few days. Not to mention the cleanup after the food fight...'  
  
The fire-red beast scratched his ear. 'I really hope we figure out how to get past those dragons. I don't know what's going on, but something very bad is about to happen. I can feel it.'   
  
No sooner had Nanaki thought those words than did his crimson fur stand on end. He bared his teeth as the ear-splitting screeches of many dragons were heard outside. Then, he felt the ground rumble. A low growl ascended to a powerful, air-shaking roar that sent a shiver down his spine and instilled terror in his heart. Nanaki's blood ran cold as the battle cries of the dragons stopped completely, as though cut off by something. The sudden silence bore down on his ears. At first, he thought he had gone deaf. After a few minutes, he could hear the night sounds slowly return outside.  
  
Shakily, the beast lowered himself to the ground, attempting to sleep. But everytime he closed his eyes, he heard the menacing growl in his mind, denying him any rest. When Nanaki finally closed his eyes in exhaustion, he could faintly hear a whisper in his thoughts.  
  
"Beware."  
  
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A/N:  
  
I hope it was okay. I sure had fun writing it though! It got ME edgy. ^.^ Regardless of the loss of readers, I'm gonna keep writing this story until it's done! This is my first fanfic ever, and I think it deserves a chance to be finished! Wouldn't you feel the same abot your works?...maybe not. ^_^* But anyway! I'll try to get the next chapter up when time permits. I should get it up soon since the weekend's coming up. Maybe a few reviews would get me going. *wink wink, nudge nudge* ^_~ 


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